Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes.
“A lot that you heard is true your honour. I have not been a good person my whole life. I’ve made mistakes. And I admit it,” Parnas said. “I want to apologize to all the victims that I hurt. These are all people who are my friends, all people who trusted me and I lied to them to further my personal agenda,” Parnas said.
In March, Parnas also pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he and a partner had given investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee, that promised it could protect people against fraud. “My bet is he’s going to give me that money back,” he said, adding that he didn’t blame Giuliani, who has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the scheme.
Parnas and a business associate, Igor Fruman, attracted attention from reporters after arranging big donations to Republican politicians, including a $325,000 donation to a political action committee supporting Trump.
SmileAllthetim4 🤣🤣🤣🤣I thought this was the guy who was going to get trump jailed years ago.